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“He added the
Athenian people, who had formally not been in the center of things, to his own
party, changed the names of the tribes and increased their number.He made ten tribal commanders instead of four
and distributed demes into the tribes ten at a time.Once he had got the people on his side he had
the upper hand over his rivals.” – Herodotus on Cleisthenes

Darius enlisted
Greek tyrants in his Scythian campaign, then extended Persia’s dominion to the
foot of Mount Olympus.Spartan
intervention put an end to Hippias’ oppressive rule.Inspired by Cleisthenes’ bold ideas, the
Athenians rejected both tyranny and foreign domination, and restructured their polis into the world’s first democracy.